Sinaloa drug cartel extradition charges
Sinaloa drug cartel member facing charges.
Accident – Death – Obituary News :
WASHINGTON (AP) — A notorious assassin for the Sinaloa drug cartel, who was apprehended by Mexican authorities last autumn, has been extradited to the United States to stand trial on charges related to drug trafficking, possession of firearms, and intimidation of witnesses, the Justice Department confirmed on Saturday.
Néstor Isidro Pérez Salas, also known as “El Nini,” is a key figure and commander of a unit that provided protection for the sons of incarcerated drug kingpin Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, as well as aiding in their illicit drug operations, federal investigators revealed. The sons oversee a faction known as the ‘little Chapos’ or “Chapitos,” which has been identified as a major supplier of the lethal synthetic opioid fentanyl to the United States.
Fentanyl has been attributed to approximately 70,000 overdose fatalities annually in the United States.
Charges and Allegations
“We allege El Nini was one of the Sinaloa Cartel’s principal sicarios, or hitmen, and was directly involved in the murder, torture, and abduction of adversaries and individuals who posed a threat to the cartel’s illicit drug trafficking operations,” stated U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland in a press release issued on Saturday.
As of now, there is no legal representation listed for Pérez Salas for any potential comments on his behalf.
Extradition and Rewards
Last year, the Justice Department announced a series of charges against cartel leaders, with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration offering a $3 million reward for the capture of Pérez Salas, aged 31. He was apprehended at a fortified property in the capital city of Culiacan in the state of Sinaloa last November.
President Joe Biden expressed gratitude towards Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador for extraditing Pérez Salas, emphasising the collaborative efforts between the two nations to combat the fentanyl and synthetic drug crisis that is claiming numerous lives both domestically and internationally.
Profile of Néstor Isidro Pérez Salas
The moniker Nini is believed to stem from a Mexican colloquial term “neither nor,” often used to describe individuals who are neither employed nor enrolled in educational institutions.
At the time of his arrest, Mike Vigil, former head of international operations for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, described Pérez Salas as “a complete psychopath.”
Pérez Salas led a security team known as the Ninis, described in an indictment unsealed in New York last year as “a particularly violent group of security personnel for the Chapitos.” The Ninis underwent extensive military-style training encompassing urban warfare, special weapons and tactics, and sniper expertise.
Authorities asserted that Pérez Salas was directly involved in the torture of a Mexican federal agent in 2017, where he and his associates subjected the individual to excruciating torment for two hours, including the insertion of a corkscrew into his muscles and the application of hot chiles to the wounds.
Gruesome Acts and Allegations
According to the indictment, the Ninis were engaged in barbaric acts of violence. Captured adversaries were purportedly transported to ranches owned by the Chapitos for execution, with some victims reportedly being fed — either alive or deceased — to tigers that the Chapitos kept as pets.
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– Sinaloa drug cartel assassin extradition charges
– US Justice Department extradites Sinaloa cartel member.
